CBA approved; teams can negotiate with undrafted rookies

Douglas LeeJul 25, 2011 9:44 AM

9:14pm ET - According to John Clayton, teams have been granted the right to sign negotiate but not sign undrafted rookies tonight. (Thanks, underdog)

9:10pm ET - The Baltimore Ravens have told RB Willis McGahee they intend to cut him, and Mike Klis says the Broncos figure to be a possible destination for the 29-year-old back who played for Broncos RB coach and former interim coach Eric Studesville for three years in Buffalo. McGahee has compiled 7,214 yards from scrimmage and 59 touchdowns in seven seasons and was due to make $6 million this season with the Ravens.

3:34pm ET - Via Jim Trotter of SI, here is a summary of the new CBA in PDF form

3:12pm ET - Pat Bowlen has issued a statement thanking the fans for their patience throughout the lockout

12:07pm ET - Mark Ozanian of Forbes says that following the end of the lockout, he expects rumors of three NFL franchises as being up for sale. My guesses are Buffalo, Jacksonville and perhaps Cincinnati?

11:56am ET - Adam Schefter says teams can reach agreements with draftees and undrafted rookies starting at 10am ET tomorrow and negotiate with UFAs. Then, teams would be able to cut players starting at 4pm ET Thursday and start filing transactions with the league office on Friday at 6pm ET.

Under agreed to timeline, trades and rookie signings start Tuesday, facilities open Wednesday. Unrestricted free agents (would be) free to negotiate with any team starting Tuesday (but) cannot sign with teams officially til Friday. Camps would open over weekend. Told there are some wrinkles that may surprise people as well. NFLPA execs still arriving in DC, a vote is expected this afternoon. All of this is pending recertification of NFLPA as well, but this is the plan for the week for now.

Original Entry - Adam Schefter is reporting that free agency may begin as soon as today, with teams able to begin re-signing their own free agents (ie. RFAs Matt Prater, Wesley Woodyard and UFA Marcus Thomas) and negotiate with other team's free agents this afternoon. Under this timeline, teams could also discuss trades today that would take effect as of this Saturday, July 30, and teams could sign UFAs starting at noon tomorrow, although those deals would not take effect until Aug. 2, on which day the new league year would commence.

Doug is IAOFM’s resident newsman and spelling czar. Follow him on Twitter @IAOFM

With Buck going, I&#8217d love to see Sumner, Mario Fannin and Derrick Locke. Herzlich is going to be well-courted, I suspect. Willie Smith, OT, is a good shot for the zone blocking scheme - he can&#8217t handle angle blocking, but has good feet.

Ian Williams is great against the run - not much against the pass. He&#8217s a one-two down player, depending on who you&#8217re facing. I&#8217d prefer Cedric Thornton out of Southern Arkansas. He had fourth and fifth-round grades, can work as a 3-4 DG or a 4-3 defensive tackle, possibly even at under tackle. He was also 16th in the nation in tackles for loss in 2010 - I expect there to be a lot of interest in him. He was a two-time Division II All-American also had a solid performance at the Senior Bowl: he pushed Rodney Hudson right back into the backfield on at least one occasion. Hey, we can hope&#8230.

Posted by Doc Bear on 2011-07-26 02:33:07

Josiana Anderson is saying Buck will be released

Posted by SpaceCowboy on 2011-07-26 02:00:24

Doug, ESPN says teams can sign UDFAs.

I hope X-man is burning the line trying to get to Ian Williams/Herzlich/Grigsby.

Posted by Orange and Blue on 2011-07-26 01:56:52

UD - You might have caught from the tone of my comment that I&#8217m not in favor of a two team situation in LA - I&#8217m just commenting on what&#8217s in the LA Times. The attempts to create a 2 NFL team town historically have all ended badly, and I don&#8217t see that changing. They&#8217ll make a run at it, though, and the league has done a lot of foolish things over the years.

QDoc, I&#8217d pass on Benson. He&#8217s a remarkable talent, but his talent for getting into trouble seems to follow him like a bad smell, including last week&#8217s incident. He may or may not have been dealing with a potential blackmail situation - that&#8217s unproven so far. If he was, Benson has to someday learn to handle issues legally rather than violently. Benson is quite a talent and someone will pay him lavishly. Considering the current P. Cox situation and the stain that it may leave on D. Thomas, Vaughn and Woodyard, I don&#8217t think that Denver would take the chance on Benson.

Bush, on the other hand, I&#8217d be more interested in and as you suggest - a lot of this will depend on what teams sign their own FAs and what the veteran players on the market are going to get in compensation. It won&#8217t be dull, that&#8217s for certain <img alt="wink" height="19" src="http://www.singernet.com/images/smileys/wink.gif" style="border:0;" width="19">

Posted by Doc Bear on 2011-07-26 01:37:13

For RB&#8230 What about Ced Benson or Michael Bush?

Benson might want too much $, but he&#8217s solid if not spectacular. Bush could come cheap, and he&#8217s got oodles of potential. I&#8217d take either of them at their likely asking price over DeAngelo Williams and his likely asking price.

Posted by QDoc on 2011-07-26 01:27:19

PS:

RT @AdamSchefter: John Clayton reports that NFL teams were granted the right to sign undrafted players Monday night.

Posted by underdog on 2011-07-26 00:56:36

Doc, just from knowing people in LA, and from what I&#8217ve read, having two teams end up in LA seems a major pipe dream at this point. Even though the city is certainly large enough for that. But they have hard enough time getting act together and coming to set conclusion about one team, and one facility yet alone housing two teams. Maybe at some point, yeah, could see a 2nd team arriving in an outlying area. For now though, I&#8217m sure they&#8217d take one team (please!)

LA has already announced that they are hoping to obtain two teams - one for downtown and one for City of Industry. Despite the occasional positive article, the Chargers don&#8217t seem any closer to getting a stadium deal than they were three years ago, so while it&#8217s possible that there&#8217s something happening behind the scenes, it&#8217s equally possible that the Chargers will move. If they do, I&#8217d tend to expect them to take one LA slot. Despite the fact that it hasn&#8217t worked financially to date, a second team is fairly likely to take the second slot. Buffalo, Jacksonville and Minnesota could all be on the hoof, so to speak.

It might get pretty wild.

Posted by Doc Bear on 2011-07-25 23:42:23

As for Perrish Cox, It is truly a bummer. I know he has to stand trial and all that but after reading the documents I would have trouble seeing him getting an innocent verdict. Especially since there is some pretty serious proof (a fetus) that proves Cox had sex with her after denying it.

I would have to agree, he should be cut loose as soon as possible.

Posted by Dennis Mitchell on 2011-07-25 21:32:42

RT @AdamSchefter And so it begins&#8230filed to ESPN: The Ravens have told RB Willis McGahee they will be releasing him.

Posted by underdog on 2011-07-25 21:24:26

@AldenBrown

I agree that it would be best to cut him and just move on, I just didn&#8217t know if there is some sort of precedent to follow to actually do that.

Personally I think the team needs to take a good long look at the 4 guys that were mentioned in the report, because like TJ said on Saturday, this sort of behavior needs to stop

Posted by SpaceCowboy on 2011-07-25 19:24:27

Space Cowboy, yes I do belive that the front office will cut Cox soon, well before a trial, basically for the reasons set forth by Hercules Rockefeller. Cox&#8217s guilt is clear beyond all doubt from the face of the arrest affidavit, and the Broncos must know this. Thus, there is no reason to wait any longer. Cox&#8217s only chance would have been to argue consensual sex, but he agreed that the victim was unconscious and he denied having sex with her. His guilt of the crime is therefore proved by her pregnancy with his child. He&#8217s done himself in with his own statements. Even if he would change his story and now claim that they had consensual sex, he would be impeached with his prior inconsistent statements to the police. And then he would be guilty of lying to the police and attempting to obstruct a felony investigation. So, either way, my guess is that the front office has seen enough.

Posted by AldenBrown on 2011-07-25 19:08:26

NFN to release names of all free agents this evening.

Posted by sleepyteak on 2011-07-25 18:29:44

Franchises up for sale? My guess is Minnesota is among them if they aren&#8217t able to get a new stadium deal done, and it appears they won&#8217t. I&#8217d guess the developers of the downtown stadium in LA will buy and move the Vikings. (Boo, hiss!)

Let&#8217s go Broncos! Finally some real football activity is going to happen!

Posted by CompUser on 2011-07-25 18:23:23

trades can start Tuesday

Posted by sleepyteak on 2011-07-25 18:17:32

So I am confused by the different reports, can Trades be done tomorrow and finalized on Friday? Or what is the deal?

Posted by SpaceCowboy on 2011-07-25 18:07:53

I like Squid, too, agree, would be nice to see him get a shot for more playing time.

I&#8217ve already wasted 1/2 hour today looking for details on the new salary cap. It&#8217s amazing to me that there is not solid reporting on this - teams are starting to sign and it&#8217s not clear how dead money is going to be treated? I don&#8217t trust Clayton at all.

I&#8217m currently thinking that Ted&#8217s article on the cash-basis cap nailed it - I don&#8217t know how you can get to 99% guaranteed spending without writing off previous signing bonuses. If this is the case, then Xanders should get major credit for cutting Bannan, Graham and Williams. Bannan might even get an increase in guaranteed money, all things considered.

Posted by snaggins on 2011-07-25 17:31:26

I wouldn&#8217t be surprised if the broncos cut Perrish Cox today, after reading the reports of the arrest warrant that came out last week. Claiming that he didn&#8217t have sex with her and then being proved wrong later puts him in a pretty bad spot IMO, becuase he&#8217s already lied and he can&#8217t play the he said/she said defense that he thought it was consensual. most people are willing to provide some benefit of the doubt in that scenario as it&#8217s hard to know what happens behind closed doors (much less pass judgement on, which is NOT what I mean to do here). But if he&#8217s already lied about it? That&#8217s a PR situation that can get ugly pretty quick.

Posted by Hercules Rockefeller on 2011-07-25 17:11:20

@AldenBrown

You think the Broncos FO will outright cut him before any trial results?

Personally I want to see Squid or Vaughn and see what they have. Squid made some crazy plays last year in limited action.

Posted by SpaceCowboy on 2011-07-25 16:31:40

I assume we can go ahead and subtract Perrish Cox&#8217s base salary for starters.

Posted by AldenBrown on 2011-07-25 16:23:57

Surprising if 3 teams are immediately for sale that they did not vote against CBA. Means to me that they held off selling until this CBA was implemented and thereby increases their values.

Buffalo, Carolina and Jax are my picks.

Posted by Orange and Blue on 2011-07-25 16:12:25

Gents, just to clarify. It&#8217s pretty clear to us that the Broncos are in a good cap situation. We&#8217re currently embarking on a one-two-week period where reporting on finances is going to be even worse than usual. We&#8217ll see some moves that look stupid and end up being brilliant, and vice versa. Should be fascinating stuff.

From year 3 on, the CBA requires teams to spend at 95% of the cap. Three thoughts:

1) What counts towards that 95% becomes very complicated.

2) We&#8217re going to see lots of contract inflation.

3) The writing is on wall for places like Buffalo and cheap bozos like Wayne Weaver, unless #1 above provides them with some serious loopholes.

Fascinating, all told.

Posted by Chibronx on 2011-07-25 16:04:32

NFLN just reported that the Broncos are tentatively starting their Training Camp Wednesday

booyah!

Posted by SpaceCowboy on 2011-07-25 15:27:05

Surprises?!

Please somehow let it be that Mebane is forced to sign with us.

Posted by Orange and Blue on 2011-07-25 15:21:23

Yeah, I am confused. For the past 2 years we have been hearing how the Broncos have been clearing a ton of cap space and dead money, how are they right next to to cap number?

My guess is that if Denver trades Orton (save $8 million) restructure Dawkins (cut him down to $3 million maybe?), But Buck (save $2 million), that is $15 million ish right there, not counting anyone else.

But what do I know? I am not a Professor!

Posted by SpaceCowboy on 2011-07-25 15:02:51

Am I wrong in thinking the Professor is a tad premature in his pronouncement about teams&#8217 cap room situations? Won&#8217t the Broncos likely be cutting loose a few guys, and possibly trading others, thus, you know, creating more cap room?

Anyway, this is gonna be one crazy week. Baseball trade deadline, and a frenzied, super-condensed free agency period. Sports reporters have to love it.

Posted by underdog on 2011-07-25 14:55:31

I would be surprised if there is not mass confusion. I bet there is a huge cutting block or conveyer belt (for shipping players to another destination) in Dove Valley being constructed as we speak in order to get some flexibility during this period.

Posted by Orange and Blue on 2011-07-25 14:34:35

Yeehaw!!! Let the games begin.

Posted by JoePlummer on 2011-07-25 14:21:26

One reason why Denver might have the least caproom is because they have the least amount of free agents. New orleans has about 30 free agents, I&#8217d say they are in worst shape than Denver.

Posted by sleepyteak on 2011-07-25 14:17:44

Gosh, this is going to be fascinating. I just found this piece by somebody who calls himself The Professor (even though it appears he has no Ph.D.&#8212I guess being on the receiving end of swirlies throughout high school is enough to qualify him) saying that the Broncos have the least cap room of any team out there.